Trump to Discuss Potential Plague Outbreak in Russia With Putin
The White House is monitoring reports of a suspected pneumonic plague case in Russia, which has reportedly led to at least one death.
President Donald Trump announced Tuesday that he has a call scheduled with Russian President Vladimir Putin to discuss a potential plague outbreak in Russia.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) stated that it is aware of and closely monitoring reports of a suspected case of pneumonic plague in the Irkutsk region of Russia that resulted in a death. "We are working across the US government to assess developments as additional information becomes available," a spokesperson for the agency told the Daily Mail.
Officials noted there was currently "no indication... of a broader threat" to the U.S., but they are continuously monitoring for updates.
Panic reportedly broke out last week when a 28-year-old lab worker at the Irkutsk Anti-Plague Research Institute in Siberia, Darya Shipilova, allegedly told medical staff that she had accidentally broken a test tube containing live bacteria. Russian officials have claimed Shipilova died from an "unidentified pneumonia," but reports suggest she was infected with pneumonic plague, a form of the disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis.
Shipilova was hospitalized and died from the infection on October 2. Hundreds of people she came into contact with, and five hospitals including a maternity unit, were placed into quarantine.
Countries bordering Russia, including Mongolia, Kyrgyzstan, and Uzbekistan, are tightening border health controls in response to the situation.